FATHER

John Tilley

MOTHER

Joan Hurst

HUSBAND

John Howland

CHILDREN

1. Desire Howland
    b. Abt. 1625
    m. 6 Nov 1644 John Gorham
    d. 13 Oct 1683

2. John Howland
    b. 24 April 1627
    m. 26 Oct 1651 Mary Lee
    d. Aft. 18 Jun 1699

3. Hope Howland
    b. 30 Aug 1629
    m. 13 Sep 1646 John Chipman
    d. 8 Jan 1683   

4. Elizabeth Howland
    b. 1631
    m. 13 Sep 1649 Ephraim Hicks
    m. 10 Jul 1652 John Dickenson 

5. Lydia Howland
    b. Feb 1634
    m. Abt. 1654 James Browne
    d. 11 Jan 1711

6. Hannah Howland
    b. 1637
    m. 6 Jul 1661 Jonathan Bosworth

7. Joseph Howland
    b. 1640
    m. 7 Dec 1664 Elizabeth Southworth

8. Jabez Howland
    b. 1644
    m. 1669 Bethia Hatcher
    d. Bef. 6 Feb 1712

9. Ruth Howland
    b. 1646
    m. 17 Nov 1664 Thomas Cushman
    d. Bef. 16 Oct 1679

10. Isaac Howland
    b. 15 Nov 1649 Rocky Nook, (Kingston), Plymouth
    m. 1677 Elizabeth Vaughan
    d. 9 Mar 1724

Elizabeth Tilley
by Susan Brooke
Mar 2023

Elizabeth Tilley was baptized 30 Aug 1607 in Henlow, Bedfordshire, England. (1) Her parents, John Tilley and Joan Hurst, probably fled to Holland when she a young gitl to escape religious persecution. (2) They were part of the Leyden Separatist congregation a few years later where Elizabeth lived until their emigration on the Mayflower. (3)   She was 13 years old in 1620 and her family was supposed to sail on the Speedwell, but it was deemed unsafe, so many families crammed onto the already full Mayflower.  The conditions on the Mayflower were awful due to the overcrowding and horrible weather.  John Howland, her future husband, was washed overboard, but pulled back on ship.
The first year of their arrival was also brutal.  Half of the colony died, including her parents and and her uncle Edward Tilley and his wife Ann.  She was an orphan in a new land at the age of 13.  Her aunt and uncle Edward Tilley had two children in their custody, a nephew and niece of his wife, Ann Cooper Tilley.  Henry Samson was about 16 but Humility Cooper was just an infant.  All the rest of the family of Elizabeth Tilley that had come to the colonies,  had died. Humility Cooper may have stayed with her cousin Henry Samson. She was listed in 1727 in a division of cattle along with Henry Samson, and by 1639 she had returned to England where she was baptized. (4)
The colonists had intended to build nineteen houses that first year, but due to the death toll they only built seven and thus many families were living together. (5)  At some point Elizabeth Tilley became part of the household of Governor John Carver and his "man servant" John Howland. The governor and his wife died in the spring/summer of 1621.  Since they had no children, John Howland apparently became their heir, (6)  and thus Elizabeth became a ward of John Howland.  "According to the land grant of 1624 John Howland was given an acre each for himself, Elizabeth Tilley, Desire Minter, and the boy, William Latham." (7)  They were all living in the house of John Howland.  There also may have been a Roger Wilder, Jasper More and an unnamed maid. (6)
Elizabeth Tilley married John Howland sometime around 1624 since their 2nd child, John Howland, was born in 1626.  Elizabeth had been baptized in Aug 1607 so she was still a very young lady in 1624 of maybe 16 or 17.  Apparently Elizabeth Tilley could write her name fairly well, as opposed to most of the other Mayflower ladies.  Possibly John Howland had taught her to read.  The inventory of her estate had several religious books. (7)
In 1638 when she already had about six children, they moved from Plymouth to Rocky Nook where she an additional four children.  She gave birth to her 10th child at the age of 42.  Her husband died in Rocky Nook on 23 Feb 1672/3.  After his death she went to live with her son Jabez in Plymouth. Then in 1680, and Elizabeth went to live with her daughter Lydia (married to James Brown). in Swansea (now a section of East Providence. Rhode Island.)  Three of her daughters predeceased her: Ruth in 1679 and Desire and Hope in 1683. Elizabeth Tilly Howland wrote her will on 17 Dec 1686 at the age of 79 years old.  She named her eldest son, John Howland and sons Joseph, Jabez and Isaac Howland.  She also named her son-in-law James Browne.  The daughters named were Lidia Browne, Elizabeth Dickenson and Hannah Bosworth.  The grandchildren named were Elizabeth Bursley,(daughter of John Howland), Nathaniel Howland, (son of Joseph Howland), James Browne, Jabez Browne, Dorothy Browne (three of the children of her daughter Lydia) and Desire Cushman (daughter of her deceased daughter Ruth). She did not name any of  the children of either of her other two deceased daughters, Desire and Hope.   She named James Browne and Jabez Howland her executors. (8)  She died the next year on 21 Dec 1687. She was 80 years old.

Sources

(1) "The Parish Register of Henlow, 1558-1812" transcribed and published by Bedfordshire County Record Office

(2) Elizabeth had an older brother, Robert Tilley, who was baptized 25 Nov 1604.  In Oct 1617 he was apprenticed as a tailor in Henlow in 1617.  In 1618 her uncle, Edward Tilley, who also sailed on the Mayflower, was living in Leydon and  assigned an apprentice.  Thus, the family of John Tilley and his wife and daughter, Elizabeth, have left Henlow, Bedfordshire, England, until about  1618

Forster, Joy. The Lost Children of Bedfordshire's Pilgrim Fathers: The Tilley family of the Mayflower. The Mayflower Quarterly, Vol. 65, No. 4, Nov 1999.
"I therefore visited Bedford Record Office and checked their printed index to the apprentice records. There to my delight was the record for Robert Tilley the son of John Tilley of Henlow being apprenticed to a Bedford tailor named John Jones for the term of eight years in October 1617. So the reason Robert did not travel to America with his parents was that he was already serving an apprenticeship in Bedford."

Edward Tilley, wkipedia
"On 25 Apr 1618 Edward Tilley (saijwercker geboortich uijt Engelant - sailworker/silkworker? native of England) took on Robert Hagges (also a native of England) as an apprentice for five years according to Dutch records. Robert was over 21 and witnesses Jonathan Brewster, Robert Cooper and Thomas Blossom translated for Tilley and Hagges, who did not speak or understand Dutch very well."

(3) Elizabeth Tilley on Wikipedia

(4) Humility Cooper Wikipedia

(5) Mayflower, A Story of Courage, Community and War by Nathaniel Philbrick, 2006

pg 84

"In the weeks ahead, the death toll required them to revise radically their initial plans.  Instead of nineteen, only seven houses were built the first year, plus another four buildings for common use, including a small fortlike structure called a rendevous."

(6) Still Casting Shadows: A Shared Mosaic of U. S. History by Clay Shannon 2006

pg 19

"John Howland's master John Carver also died, in April, and a few days later Carver's wife Kathrine joined him. As the Carvers had no surviving  children (apparently their only two had died in Holland, one in 1609 and the other in 1617), John Howland was apparently their heir.  Howland immediately purchased his freedom.  Orphaned Elizabeth Tilley was accepted into what was left of the Carvers - now the John Howland- household.  Desire Minter, for whom John and Elizabeth would apparently name their first-born child, had been in the care of the Carvers and also remained a part of the household.  Other members included a manservant named Roger Wilder, two boys, Jasper More and William Lathan, and an unnamed servant maid."

(7) The Women Who Came In The Mayflower Chapter III

Elizabeth Tilley -- excelled her associates among these girls of Plymouth in one way, --she could write her name very well.  Possibly she was taught by her husband, John Howalnd, who left, in his inventory, an ink-horn, and who wrote records and letters often for the colonists.---
After the death of her parents, during the first winter, Elizabeth remained with the Carver household until that was broken by death; afterwards she was included in the family over which John Howland was considered "head:"; according to the grant of 1624 he was given an acre each for himself, Elizabeth Tilley, Desire Minter, and the boy, William Latham. ---
She died at the home of her daughter, Lydia Howland Brown, in Swanzey, in 1687.  Among the articles mentioned in her will are many books of religious type.  Her husband's estate was inventories was not large, but mentioned such useful articles as silk neckcloths, four dozen buttons and many skeins of silk.

(8) Last Will & Testament of Elizabeth Tilley Howland

Massachusetts Wills  Bristol  Vol 1-4 page 13

or  http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/users/deetz/Plymouth/howlandwill.html

In ye Name of God Amen I Elizabeth Howland of Swanzey in ye County of Bristoll in ye Collony of Plymouth in New Engld being Seventy nine yeares of Age but of good & perfect memory thanks be to Allmighty God & calling to Remembrance ye uncertain Estate of this transitory Life & that all fflesh must Yeild unto Death when it shall please God to call Doe make constitute & ordaine & Declare This my last Will & Testament, in manner & forme following Revoking and Anulling by these prsents all & every Testamt & Testamts Will & Wills heretofore by me made & declared either by Word or Writing And this to be taken only for my last Will & Testament & none other. And first being penitent & sorry from ye bottom of my heart for all my sinns past most humbly desiring forgivenesse for ye same I give & Committ my soule unto Allmighty God my Savior & redeemer in whome & by ye meritts of Jesus Christ I trust & believe assuredly to be saved & to have full remission & forgivenesse of all my sins & that my Soule wt my Body at the generall Day of Resurrection shall rise againe wt Joy & through ye meritts of Christs Death & passion possesse & inheritt ye Kingdome of heaven prepared for his Elect & Chosen & my Body to be buryed in such place where it shall please my Executrs hereafter named to appoint And now for ye settling my temporall Estate & such goodes Chattells & Debts as it hath pleased God far above my Deserts to bestow upon me I Do Dispose order & give ye same in manner & forme following (That is to say) First that after my funerall Expences & Debts paid wc I owe either of right or in Conscience to any manner of person or persons whatsoever in Convenient tyme after my Decease by my Execrs hereafter named I Give & bequeath unto my Eldest Son John Howland ye sum of five pounds to be paid out of my Estate & my Booke called Mr Tindale's Workes & also one pair of sheetes & one pr of pillowbeeres & one pr of Bedblanketts, Item I give unto my son Joseph Howland my Stillyards & also one pr of sheetes & one pr of pillobeeres Item I give unto my son Jabez Howland my ffetherbed & boulster yt is in his Custody & also one Rugg & two Blanketts yt belongeth to ye said Bed & also my great Iron pott & potthookes Item I give unto my son Isaack Howland my Booke called Willson on ye Romanes & one pr of sheetes & one paire of pillowbeeres & also my great Brasse Kettle already in his possession Item I give unto my Son in Law Mr James Browne my great Bible Item I give & bequeath unto my Daughter Lidia Browne my best ffeatherbed & Boulster two pillowes & three Blanketts & a green Rugg & my small Cupboard one pr of AndyIrons & my lesser brasse Kettle & my small Bible & my booke of mr Robbinsons Workes called Observations Divine & Morrall & allso my finest pr of Sheetes & my holland pillowbeeres, Item I give unto my Daughter Elisabeth Dickenson one pr of Sheetes & one pr of pillowbeeres & one Chest Item I give unto my Daughter Hannah Bosworth one pr of sheets & one pr of pillowbeeres, Item I give unto my Grand Daughter Elizabeth Bursley one paire of sheets and one paire of Pillowbeeres Item I give & bequeath unto my Grandson Nathaniel Howland (the son of Joseph Howland) and to the heires of his owne Body lawfully begotten for ever all that my Lott of Land with ye Meadow thereunto adjoyning & belonging lying in the Township of Duxbury neare Jones River bridge, Item I give unto my Grandson James Browne One Iron barr and on Iron Trammell now in his possession, Item I give unto my Grandson Jabez Browne one Chest Item I give unto my Grand Daughter Dorothy Browne my best Chest & my Warming pan Item I give unto my Grand Daughter Desire Cushman four Sheep, Item I give & bequeath my wearing clothes linnen and Woollen and all the rest of my Estate in mony Debts linnen or of what kind or nature or sort soever it may be unto my three Daughters Elisabeth Dickenson, Lidia Browne and Hannah Bosworth to be equally Devided amongst them, Item I make constitute and ordaine my loving Son in Law James Browne and my loving son Jabez Howland Executors of this my last Will and Testament, Item it is my Will & Charge to all my Children that they walke in ye Feare of ye Lord, and in Love and peace towards each other and endeavour the true performance of this my last Will & Testament In Witnesse whereof I the said Elizabeth Howland have hereunto sett my hand & seale this seventeenth Day of December Anno Dm one thousand six hundred Eighty & six.

The mark of Elisabeth E H Howland

Signed Sealed & Delivd

in ye prsence of us Wittnesses

Hugh Cole

Samuel Vyall

John Browne

.